Low blood sugar at birth a risk
Study finds higher chance of brain damage in those with condition
Low blood sugar levels in newborns doubles or triples the chance of impairment in some brain functions later in life, a new report has found.
Research published in today’s issue of JAMA Pediatrics found that children who had low blood sugar levels as newborns were two to three times more likely to have difficulties with executive function (skills for problem-solving, planning, memory and attention) and visual-motor coordination (skills for fine control of movement and understanding what you see) at the age of 4-and-a-half.
Low blood sugar is a condition which affects about 15 per cent of newborns and is the only common preventable cause of brain damage in infancy. At-risk babies are those born premature, smaller or larger than usual and babies whose mothers have diabetes.
The study, Children with Hypoglycaemia and their Later Development, was carried out by a team of researchers from the Liggins Institute, the University of Auckland, Waikato Hospital, the University of Canterbury and the University of Waterloo, and found the lower the blood sugar levels, or the more often they dropped, the greater the impairment was.
Children who had a drop in blood sugar that was not detected using routine blood sugar monitoring were four times more likely to have dif- ficulties with these skills.
The team, led by Distinguished Professor Jane Harding at the University of Auckland-based Liggins Institute, have been following 614 New Zealand babies born at risk of low blood sugar levels to see what the effect was.
At-risk babies are tested with heel-prick blood tests in the first few hours after birth. If their blood sugar is too low, they are treated with sugar gel to return it to normal levels.
Half of the babies in the study were diagnosed with,
At age 4.5 years . . . children who experienced low blood sugar levels were more likely to have specific difficulties. Professor Jane Harding
and treated for, low blood sugar within hours of birth.
The children were assessed at 2 years old and again at 4-and-a-half.
“At 2 years there was no relationship between blood sugar levels and later brain development, but at age 4.5 years, it’s clear that the children who experienced low blood sugar levels were more likely to have specific difficult- ies,” Harding said. “We don’t know yet what these impairments mean . . . in practical terms, but executive function and visual motor integration are believed to be important for learning at school.”
The research team will next assess the children at the age of 9 or 10 and the findings could make the results of another study she is leading even more important.